See What's Clogging Up Your iPhone With a Single Tap

Share

See What's Clogging Up Your iPhone With a Single Tap

Photo: Josh Valcarcel/WIRED

Ever wish there was a Windows Explorer or a Finder equivalent on your iPhone or iPad? Well, actually, there is one...sort of. It's very basic, but this little trick will present you with a list of every single item on your iOS device – handy when you want to, say, free up space by culling infrequently used apps and songs.

On iOS 7, simply swipe down from anywhere on the screen (except the dock and extreme top) to access the Spotlight search and then type a period. Now watch as all your data magically appears, organized neatly into categories. By default, it first displays all your apps and then moves on to your music, podcasts, videos, notes, and email. If your apps are in folders, it'll even specify which one.

Admittedly, it's a lot of scrolling, but you can adjust the order of each category – or eliminate it entirely – by going to Settings > General > Spotlight Search.

It's not the most elegant solution, but it's the fastest way to get a get a quick snapshot of your data rather than going whack-a-mole between apps. You may be surprised what you find.